Get Vaccinated, Become a Millionaire?
According to an article from May 28th of this year by the Los Angeles Times, California Governor Gavin Newsom made it possible to become a millionaire simply by getting the Covid-19 vaccination. The state has set up a Vax Lottery for 10 lucky winners in hopes that its citizens will gamble on getting vaccinated in exchange for a chance to win 1.5 million dollars. Below, you can see a native of California getting her Covid-19 vaccination. The states biggest concern is not getting enough individuals vaccinated in order for it to be effective. Hopes of skyrocketing the number of people is the entire focus of this new game plan. Initially, it may sound like a good idea, however, chances of winning are less than 1 in 2 million and the people are aware of their odds. The chances are pretty slim, but still to many, it’s worth the shot. If the government can get people to gamble on the vax lottery, the state will be much safer and able to return to a society with a familiar level of normalcy.
But according to the link below from the CDC website, even those who are fully vaccinated still have to adhere to certain guidelines and policies by law. The CDC says it is safe to ignore the six foot rule and go maskless sometimes, but not all the time. That all depends on where you are at the time and if the people around you have been vaccinated. If you’re in a crowd with a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated civilians, you are still required to wear your mask and practice social distancing for safety precautions. So even with the California government pushing for this vaccine, it doesn’t seem to offer any long term or complete protection even still.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
After a quick search of “how long does the vaccine last" according to an excerpt from the UT SouthWestern Medical Center, it’s at least 3 months(the same amount of time the trials lasted). But that’s all the information they could give out about the life expectancy of the shot. So even being fully vaccinated, after 3 months you may or may not be safe to bypass CDC guidelines acording to their take on it. Which means you will be back at risk and in danger of putting others at risk. On top of that, other states who have held a vax lottery didnt see a rise in vaccine rates.
Upon further research from the CDC, we know the vaccine will reduce chances of spreading the disease, but not sure how this affects those with weakened immune systems. We are also unsure if the vaccine even protects against the different variants of the virus; some may be less effective than others. There are a lot of if’s, when’s, why’s, and how’s that need to be figured out! But the government isn’t pushing those issues, just urgently encouraging its citizens to get vaccinated. But with what real protection and longevity does it come with?
Logically thinking, the case numbers will just begin to increase again once the medicine unknowingly wears off. The video link below confirms my thoughts, we just dont have all the answers on the lifespan of this vaccine yet, so we’re not sure exactly how safe it will really keep us. This is all still very new and a lot of trial and error has to be experimented with before any solid conclusions can come about.
So even though the sound of getting the majority of citizens vaccinated is appealing to our governments, is this really going to get us back to a normal society as they think? No, and this claim was refuted based on the articles cited at the end of this Medium. And from the information gathered above, it doesn’t sound all that promising. But for the 10 lucky winners, it seems that it will be worth while for giving in and also quite satisfying to lawmakers.
It was suggested by author Karen Klein of the UT SouthWestern Medical Center, that instead of the Vax Lottery, use the funds to maybe operate a weekly walk-in dental clinic. In exchange for proof of being vaccinated, or agreeing to get the shot on the spot, citizens who lack insurance can get the care that they need. This proposal potentially would have a much higher success rate because the money would be helping millions, instead of just 10.
The vax lottery seems to be a great hook for this wave of vaccines, but how safe are we really? And for how long? The Covid-19 vaccination may be a huge step towards an attempt to protect our nations, but for how long? Possibly three months? That’s no where near satisfactory, we have a long way til we can get back to normalcy. Upon a slight search, the idea that getting enough people vaccinated will return our nation completely back to normal just isn’t realistic and unfortunately proven to not be true.
Works Cited
- Klein, Karen. “Opinion: A Lottery Ticket as a Reward for Vaccination? That’s Nuts.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2021, www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-28opinion-a-lottery-ticket-as-a-reward-for-vaccination-thats-nuts.
- Cutrell, James. “After COVID-19 Vaccination, How Soon Will Life Return to Normal?: COVID: UT Southwestern Medical Center.” COVID | UT Southwestern Medical Center, 17 Mar. 2021, utswmed.org/medblog/after-covid-19-vaccine/.
- Health, U.S. Department Of. “When You've Been Fully Vaccinated.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 May 2021, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html.
